Water ski binding

ABSTRACT

A handknob mounted on a heel plate and splined to a pinion meshing with a rack is permitted to rotate in one direction by a ratchet mechanism to permit the heel plate to be moved forwardly along the rack, and the hand-knob and pinion are normally prevented from rotation in the opposite direction by the ratchet mechanism to prevent the heel plate from moving rearwardly along the rack. When the knob is manually lifted, the ratchet mechanism is disengaged to permit the heel plate to be moved rearwardly along the rack.

United States Patent [1 1 Frisbey WATER SKI BlNDlNG [75] Inventor: Devern C. Frisbey, Portland, Oreg.

[73] Assignee: Western Wood Mfg. Co., Portland,

Oreg.

[22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 224,690

52 11.5.01. 9 310 AA [51] Int. Cl. A63c 15/06 [58] Field of Search 280/1135 R, 11.35 C;

9/310 R, 310 AA, 310 A [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Block 9/310 AA .lehle et al 9/310 AA Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer A!!0rney-Stephen W. Blore et al.

1 1 ABSTRACT A handknob mounted on a heel plate and splined to a pinion meshing with a rack is permitted to rotate in one direction by a ratchet mechanism to permit the heel plate to be moved forwardly along the rack, and the hand-knob and pinion are normally prevented from rotation in the opposite direction by the ratchet mechanism to prevent the heel plate from moving rearwardly along the rack. When the knob is manually lifted, the ratchet mechanism is disengaged to permit the heel plate to be moved rearwardly along the rack.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures WATER SKI BINDING This invention relates to an improved water ski binding, and more particularly to knob tightened water ski binding.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved water ski binding.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knob tightened water ski binding.

A further object of the invention is to provide a water ski binding having a heel plate movable along a ski locked in position on the ski by a rack and pinion adjustment mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a water ski binding having a heel plate movable forwardly and latched by a manually rotatable knob and released for rearward movement merely by lifting the knob.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a slalom type water ski and an improved binding forming one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the ski and binding of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein an adjustable water ski binding forming one embodiment of the invention and a boot l2 centrally secured to the. upper surface of the slalom type of water ski 14. With this type of ski both feet are placed on the one ski in such a manner that one foot is placed in front of the other in the binding 10 and boot 12. One foot of the skier is placed into a front pocket or boot 16 having a foam rubber type of gripping material 18 laminated on the inside of a flexible, somewhat elastic, tough rubber outer sheet 20 having a flange-like edge 22 secured by an elongated plastic, horseshoe-shaped clamping strip 24 with fasteners 26. The foot rests on a strip of non-slip material 28 adhered to base plate 42 and a cup 30 which is made of the same type of material as the boot 16, is movable as indicated by the arrow 31 between an operative position contacting and holding the heel of the skier and a releasing position. The cup 30 is secured to a plastic slide 32 by fasteners 34 and a horseshoe-shaped clamping strip 36. The slide 32 is supported in grooves 38 in plastic guides 40 and 41 fixed to the ski fasteners 26, along with the base plate 42.

A plastic rack 44 is formed in the guide 41 just below the groove 38 and meshes with a tubular, plastic, spurtype pinion 46 that forms a part of an adjusting mechanism 48. The adjusting mechanism 48 includes a plastic twist knob 50 (FIG. 3) having a center shaft 52 that extends down through an opening 54 in top 56 of the pinion 46. A spring 58 encompasses the shaft 52 and is retained thereon by a commercially available clip lock 60. The spring 58 and shaft 52 are confined in bore 62 in the pinion 46 and the spring exerts a constant downward pressure on a sleeve portion 64 which has ratchet teeth 66 formed on its lower surface. The ratchet teeth 66 engage ratchet teeth 68 formed on an annular boss 70 on the slide 32. The ratchet teeth, when engaged, permit only tightening or forward movement of the slide 32 and the cup 30.

Vertical sleeve portion 72 of the tubular pinion 46 is hexagonal in shape (FIG. 4) and the sleeve 64 has a hexagon socket 74 splined thereon. As the knob 50 of the adjusting means 48 is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4, the sleeve portion 72 and pinion portion 73 are rotated by the knob to roll the pinion portion along the rack 44, thus moving the slide 32 toward the front boot l6 and a tighter fit in the direction of arrow 76. When it is desired to loosen the heel binding 10, the knob 50 is lifted against the spring 58, high l enough to separate the ratchet teeth 66 and 68 and then the binding 10 may be pushed and/or the knob rotated in a counter-clockwise direction to move the slide 32 in the direction of the arrow 78 rearwardly along the ski.

The left boot is placed partially in the rear boot 12. The boot 12 is domed similar to the front boot l6. Gripping material 18 of the boot I2 is like the lining 18 of the boot l6 and is laminated or adhered to the inside of a flexible outer sheet 80 like the sheet 20 and secured to the ski by fasteners 26 and hold-down strips 82.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the slot 68 extends the entire length of the guide 41 while the rack 44 extends from the rear end of the guide to a front strip portion which is untoothed and prevents movement of the pinion 46 beyond the front of the guide. This permits the slide to be slid to the rear out of the guides, when desired and the ratchet teeth 66 are lifted out of latching engagement with the teeth 68 of the boss 70, and prevents movement of the slide completely out of the front ends of the guides.

The binding 10 can be rapidly and securely placed in binding position and is automatically latched therein. The binding 10 can be quickly and easily released merely by lifting the knob and pushing the binding 10 to the rear, or, if desired, rotating the knob.

While my invention has been explained in connection with a slalom water ski, it is obviously applicable to other types of skis. While certain parts have been described as being made of plastic, this is not intended to be a limitation on the material of which the parts can be made. The provision of the anti-slip material 2.8 is optional.

While the knob is specified as being liftable, to disengage the ratchet teeth 66 and 68, the ratchet arrangement could be located elsewhere on the unit, and a separate control utilized rather than the knob. However, the knob construction is simpler and thus has advantages not present in the just-described alternate construction. While a hexagonal sliding relationship between the knob and the boss is provided, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, any other noncircular form could be used, or a circular form with key and key way could be employed.

What is claimed is: ll. In a water ski binding, a slide, a binding cup on the slide, guide means for the slide, a rack on the guide means and a pinion on the slide for moving the slide along the guide means,

releasable latching means preventing movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide,

said latching means including a ratchet device permitting forward movement of the pinion in a direction effecting forward movement of the slide,

the ratchet device including a knob splined to the pinion and having ratchet teeth on an end thereof, ratchet teeth on the slide, and means urging the knob toward a position in which the ratchet teeth thereon engage the ratchet teeth on the slide.

2. In a water ski binding,

a slide,

a binding cup on the slide,

guide means for the slide,

a rack on the guide means and a pinion on the slide for moving the slide along the guide means,

releasable latching means preventing movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide,

said latching means including a ratchet device permitting forward movement of the pinion in a direction effecting forward movement of the slide,

the slide having a tubular boss, and the pinion having a shaft portion journalled in the boss, and including a knob splined to the shaft portion of the pinion, and the ratchet means including ratchet teeth on the knob, ratchet teeth on the boss and spring means urging the knob toward a position in which the ratchet teeth thereon engage the ratchet teeth on the boss.

3. The water ski binding of claim 2 wherein the shaft portion is cupped and the spring means includes a spring in the shaft portion, a post portion of the knob extending through the spring and spring seat means fixed to the post portion and engaging one end of the spring.

4. In a water ski binding,

a slide,

a binding cup on the slide,

guide means for guiding the slide,

a rack on the guide,

a pinion on the slide meshing with the rack, disposed a knob on the slide, said knob being coaxially dispoed relative to said pinion,

shaft means non-rotatably connecting the knob to the pinion for rotating the pinion and thus moving the slide,

and latching means preventing movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide,

and means for releasing the laching means to permit such movement.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE Patent No. 761 1 1 Inventor(s) Dated October 2 1973 DEVE-RN C. FRISBEY It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters'Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 50, after "ski" insert 1 y-- Column 2., line l7, "boot". should be foot- (first occurrence) Claim 4,. line- 14, delete "disposed line l5,

"dispoedf should be "disposedline .23, "laching" should be -'-latching-.

Signe d and s'e'e'led. this 25th day of December 1973.

RENE D. TEGTMEIYER v v Acting Commissioner of Patents U5COMM-DC 00376-3 69 

1. In a water ski binding, a slide, a binding cup on the slide, guide means for the slide, a rack on the guide means and a pinion on the slide for moving the slide along the guide means, releasable latching means preventing movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide, said latching means including a ratchet device permitting forward movement of the pinion in a direction effecting forward movement of the slide, the ratchet device including a knob splined to the pinion and having ratchet teeth on an end thereof, ratchet teeth on the slide, and means urging the knob toward a position in which the ratchet teeth thereon engage the ratchet teeth on the slide.
 2. In a water ski binding, a slide, a binding cup on the slide, guide means for the slide, a rack on the guide means and a pinion on the slide for moving the slide along the guide means, releasable latching means preveNting movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide, said latching means including a ratchet device permitting forward movement of the pinion in a direction effecting forward movement of the slide, the slide having a tubular boss, and the pinion having a shaft portion journalled in the boss, and including a knob splined to the shaft portion of the pinion, and the ratchet means including ratchet teeth on the knob, ratchet teeth on the boss and spring means urging the knob toward a position in which the ratchet teeth thereon engage the ratchet teeth on the boss.
 3. The water ski binding of claim 2 wherein the shaft portion is cupped and the spring means includes a spring in the shaft portion, a post portion of the knob extending through the spring and spring seat means fixed to the post portion and engaging one end of the spring.
 4. In a water ski binding, a slide, a binding cup on the slide, guide means for guiding the slide, a rack on the guide, a pinion on the slide meshing with the rack, disposed a knob on the slide, said knob being coaxially dispoed relative to said pinion, shaft means non-rotatably connecting the knob to the pinion for rotating the pinion and thus moving the slide, and latching means preventing movement of the pinion in a direction effecting rearward movement of the slide, and means for releasing the laching means to permit such movement. 